Botany shoppers given the opportunity to point and shoot – their own prize that is...

AMP Capital Shopping Centres recently asked 257 respondents in East Auckland a broad range of questions to understand how they combine social media with their shopping experiences.

The survey revealed that shoppers regularly take to social media to find out or talk about shopping and 74.7% of those surveyed said they use Facebook or Twitter for this purpose. Botany Town Centre has embraced this trend and regularly interacts with the 4,007 ‘likes’ on the centre’s Facebook page.

“Facebook provides us with a great way to connect directly with the local community,” says Botany Town Centre senior marketing manager Desiree Clark. “As it is instant, we can easily give the community information on events, activities and trends at the centre. It also gives us the opportunity to hear what the community would like from us.”

Of those surveyed, 51.4% of shoppers follow a particular brand or shopping centre on Facebook, so the audience at stake is huge. With shoppers embracing social media in this big way, Botany Town Centre has developed a campaign to run for the month of February called Pic Your Prize.

The competition will directly use social media as it invites shoppers to upload photos to the Botany Town Centre website (www.botanytowncentre.co.nz/picyourprize) and share via sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest. It is a simple concept – shoppers simply come into the centre and take a photo (using a Smartphone or camera) of something they would like to win, up to the value of $500. This is then uploaded to be entered into the draw.

Desiree Clark sees the competition as another great way to interact with the local community and Botany visitors through social media. “With this initiative it is up to the shopper to select what they’d like to win. It’s easy too – all they have to do is take a picture of the prize they are coveting and share. Botany Town Centre is proud to be embracing the changing face of technology within the shopping offering.”

With a minimum of 20 prizes (with a value of up to $500) available, shoppers can enter up to one photo a day, giving them many chances to win. There are also added incentives of extra prize entries for shoppers when they share their photo on designated social media channels. More information on the campaign can be found at www.botanytowncentre.co.nz/picyourprize.